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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write a story about waiting — but don't reveal what's being waited for until the very end.

Posted in Nonfiction on Oct 26, 2022

Submissions are closed

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✍️ 323 stories

“The Room” by Winter Wind

Submitted to Contest #49

Crash. The scratch and squeal of cold metal filled the icy air. Snow falls from a darkened sky and a harsh wind blows against skyscrapers towering over crowded streets. A man scrambles out of a destroyed car half-stepping away from the accident. Paramedics arrived at the scene soon after; they managed to pull the vehicles apart and putting the other driver on a gurney, into an ambulance which immediately made its way to the hospital. Concerned, the man rapidly looks over his own body to see the damage he incurred. Miraculously, he sees noth...

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“86 Days Ago” by Sam Acker

Submitted to Contest #49

For the 84th consecutive day I walked into the empty field at the edge of town. People had long since started noticing me passing by at various times – sometimes early in the morning, sometimes not until after the sunset. No one found it in themselves to ask what I was doing, and I didn’t bother providing an explanation. Maybe because, ultimately, I didn’t even have an explanation. All I knew was I wanted to be there when it happened. Whenever that was.            I kicked the toe of my ...

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“Numb” by Karen N

Submitted to Contest #49

The waiting room was cold and stark, the generic wall art grating on the man’s already frayed nerves. The harsh scent of chemicals burned his senses until he wasn’t certain he’d be able to smell again. The light bouncing off the too white walls made his eyes hurt, but no matter how much he pressed on and rubbed them, it offered no relief. Still, he wouldn’t leave his uncomfortable seat. He’s been told countless times that he should go home and get some rest; that someone would call him when they found anything out, but he wouldn’t hear it. E...

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“The club” by Lee Dohann

Submitted to Contest #49

The nights are quite chilly this time of the year. It signals the start of another long Winter. Soft misty drops soak into the visitors’ coats, as they ascend the stairs. The house, indeed to be admired even in this weather, looks majestic. More and more people arrive, each one equally surprised by the intensity of the chill. I have arrived with John. We have been dating for eight months, and I decided to share this moment with him. This moment which comes at an appointed time every year, and shared by a special group of people. We all und...

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“Five past 4” by Liz Martin

Submitted to Contest #49

She had thoroughly cleaned the living room by 8 o’clock that morning. The bathroom, too, before breakfast. Were she being honest with herself, she could admit that she would have continued, had Dylan not seized her hand and deposited her, none too gently, at the breakfast bar. Pushing her thick glasses back up her slightly sweaty nose, she had glowered at her husband, who had merely given her a flat look in exchange and unceremoniously pushed a bowl of cornflakes along the tabletop. She wrinkled her nose as she lifted her spoon and took her ...

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“Fireflies” by L Hinz

Submitted to Contest #49

Bright lights are dancing, jumping up and down, colliding with each other and parting again, crossing the pitch-dark background – jauntily – without any sorrows. They hover over the grass and weed, lifting up the black curtains for a moment while closing them in another one. Their existence seems meaningless but is yet full of greatness. I envy them. As they dive through the starless night, they supply dim luminosity. One can be captivated by their dreamlike sight. Devouring one's eyes and sophistically tangle one's mind. One would say t...

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“The One That Gets Away” by Bruce Charles

Submitted to Contest #49

The woman sitting by herself sighed heavily while looking out the restaurant's window. It had rained recently and the droplets could still be seen on the glass, which seemed to be a perfect fit for her mood. Walter, who worked as a waiter, couldn't believe how pretty she was, especially right now. Her hair, makeup, and dress all managed to give her an aura of elegance few could pull off.Walter felt a pang of jealousy towards the date the woman was waiting for. At least he assumed it was a date. He couldn't imagine anyone getting that dolled ...

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“Waiting for the Angels” by Susan Hudson

Submitted to Contest #49

Waiting for the Angels Orla - October, 2007: Oh my goodness; here she comes. Here she comes! I am so happy it is her day! Although I don’t know much about days except they come after sleeps, I was thinking it must be time for her to be here. I keep an eye on her and wait while she checks kennel cards to see who has walked and who has not (as she was trained to do). I do not wait patiently; I jump as high as I can and bark as loud as I can.  I like her so much. She is the BEST volunteer ever. She takes me for long walks on the tra...

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“Toes Untouch The Overpass ” by Blisters Wournos

Submitted to Contest #49

The 1st second:  Anxiety. I check the setting sun in the sky and try to tell the time like a boy scout from shadows cast by bridge beams.   I swim through the hot pink and creamy oranges of day turning to night.  How beautiful state changes are.  That's what this is, a state change.  I am the purple night sky melting into the yellow remains of the day. I am a wad of dough braving the oven to come out as bread. I am dry ice sublimating in the hot sun. I am ice cream dripping into liquid down a child’s sticky fist...

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“A Wife's Love” by Alice Sweet

Submitted to Contest #49

Time is endless yet feels so brief in the flash of an eye you go from playing on the seesaws with your imaginary friend teddy to signing a marriage certificate while wearing a pink wedding dress cause that's just what you wanted to wear at that moment. Every second of the day is measured, your life is measured, your very existence is measured, and by what ? some unknown force outside our reach. Someone or something that you can't see or hear that gets to predetermine your whole life.     *knock knock* " I'm coming... I'll be r...

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“ "The Crow in Tree Number Five" by London Copeland” by Debbie Copeland

Submitted to Contest #49

There it stood looking like an entranceway to a private cemetery; a rusty black gate with a broken chain lock, ajar, with just enough space for me to squeeze through safely—safely? I second guess myself as I do three Hail Mary’s across my chest. Barren black trees cross over my head as I go through the gate. One…two…three…four…I count the trees per his instructions, only the trees on the right side, stumbling deeper into a murky forest. Stricken trees lead me further into the woods, and then suddenly I pause from counting. My eyes blink as t...

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“Two Wait Three” by Elizabeth Moore

Submitted to Contest #49

The little boy looked up at me with big eyes. His curls fell almost to his lashes and I wanted to help him, but I couldn’t. His arms extended up to me in supplication, and their sweetness hit me like a spring breeze, their baby chubbiness just beginning to give way to little boyhood. The spring air, the smell of cut grass, the flowers waving in the breeze, all belied what was coming. He’d seen it, he knew he needed help. And I was the only one around. But I wasn’t old enough to be a mother, and I had never even been a big sister. I had no w...

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“Surprises” by Sara Pelletier

Submitted to Contest #49

Mason sat at the round, hand painted kitchen table that his mother had just bought at a garage sale the other day. It was pretty, he liked the little flowers painted all over the top. He remembered that his mother was excited about it only costing a few dollars, but most of what he had heard confused his young mind. What is so cool about it costing only a few dollars? And what is a garage sale anyway? Also, how do you buy a table at a place that is selling garages? How do you sell a garage? Could I sell my garage? How much could I get for it...

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“Waiting For Happiness” by Nolan Pieper

Submitted to Contest #49

Six in the morning on a Tuesday evening he couldn’t take it anymore. He had been waiting his whole life and he had to make some sort of a move. Vigorously tossing off the sheets covering his body on a very early fall morning he tried to dampen his frustration enough to slide out of the house unnoticed. It is peculiar because he didn’t have a need to sneak out. He lived alone in the Sierra mountain range of California accompanied only by his friendly feline Winston. Yet, he still felt this pressing need to sneak out of his own secluded cabin ...

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“Positive” by J.S Cross

Submitted to Contest #49

 From anticipation, pure excitement, to deep-seeded depression. These past five years had been a roller coaster of emotions. Would this be yet another heartbreak? Would it fill us with anguish? Could this break us up? I sat with my head in my hands, hair falling around my face, a stray tear landing on my lap. "Honey, is everything okay in there? You have been in there for quite some time," My husband's soft words set me free of my constricting thoughts. "Just a few more minutes," I managed. My ears were met with only the sound of his re...

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